US faces one of biggest budget crunches in world – IMF

U.S. Gross Debt As Percentage of GDP

But the really interesting stuff is the detail, and what leaps out again and again is how much of a hill the US has to climb. Exhibit a is the fact that under the Obama administration’s current fiscal plans, the national debt in the US (on a gross basis) will climb to above 100pc of GDP by 2015 – a far steeper increase than almost any other country.

HORROR: Teacher's brutal attack on boy, 13, at U.S. school posted on YouTube

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Two Reasons Kagan Should NOT Be on the Supreme Court

FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS

“Once again, there is no question, after Heller, that the Second Amendment guarantees individuals the right to keep and bear arms and that this right, like others in the Constitution, provides strong although not unlimited protection against governmental regulation.”

SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS

The man’s “sole contention is that the District of Columbia’s firearms statutes violate his constitutional right to ‘keep and bear arms,’” Kagan wrote. “I’m not sympathetic.”

Russia Lectures Obama on Iran "Sanctions"

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the United States and other Western nations on Thursday against imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Interfax news agency reported.

Big Brother is Watching... New Supersnooping Agencies Set Up in Senate Bank Bill

"If you can link the data to courthouse records of housing sales," he said, then anyone can find data on others. "Much of this goes beyond what banks do now" to keep data. Under the new law, the government would detail "your charges at Macy's and car payments. It would be fairly detailed information."

Gold hits all-time high as investors seek haven

Netanyahu turns to Bible in tussle over Jerusalem

Beset by questions about the future of Jerusalem in talks with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin reached for the Bible on Wednesday to stake out the Jewish state's disputed claim on the city.  Netanyahu told a parliamentary session commemorating Israel's capture of East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 war that "Jerusalem" and its alternative Hebrew name "Zion" appear 850 times in the Old Testament, Judaism's core canon.  "As to how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy scriptures of other faiths, I recommend you check," he said.

"We Are One Again the Schmucks of Europe"

Did a Big Bet Help Trigger 'Black Swan' Stock Swoon?

“ The regulatory authorities and those running the exchanges have still do not have a handle on this problem. Little wonder the small investor is so cynical, jaded & mistrustful. ”

Democrats poised to move measures with high price tags

Congress faces a crush of votes on big-ticket items before the Memorial Day recess, setting up a debate on deficits less than six months before the November elections.  Democratic leaders are looking in the next three weeks to send President Barack Obama a slew of measures that cost more than $200 billion, including a multiyear extension of unemployment benefits, an extension of expiring tax provisions and Medicare doctor payments totaling $180 billion and a $33 billion Afghanistan war supplemental bill.

Israel primed for war on Iran - Netanyahu deputy

Israel is primed for a war on Iran, a deputy to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, in a rare break with his government's reticence as world powers try to talk Tehran into curbing its nuclear plans.  By spearheading assaults on guerrillas in neighbouring Lebanon and Palestinian territories, the Israeli air force had gained the techniques necessary for any future strikes on Iranian sites, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said.

Iran Could Fire Nuclear Missile in Two Years

Iran will be able to deploy a missile capable of carrying a one-tonne nuclear warhead within two years, according to a report from a leading security think tank.

Home-schooling popularity rising at dramatic rates

While home-schooling's popularity has increased, the rate of growth concentrated in Texas' high school population is off the chart: It's nearly tripled in the last decade, including a 24 percent jump in a single year.

Workers prefer pay for not working...

In a state with the nation's highest jobless rate, landscaping companies are finding some job applicants are rejecting work offers so they can continue collecting unemployment benefits. It is unclear whether this trend is affecting other seasonal industries. But the fact that some seasonal landscaping workers choose to stay home and collect a check from the state, rather than work outside for a full week and spend money for gas, taxes and other expenses, raises questions about whether extended unemployment benefits give the jobless an incentive to avoid work.  Members of the Michigan Nursery and Landscape Association "have told me that they have a lot of people applying but that when they actually talk to them, it turns out that they're on unemployment and not looking for work," said Amy Frankmann, the group's executive director. "It is starting to make things difficult."

Obama goes off on information... iPods, iPads, Xboxes and Playstations...

"With iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, -- none of which I know how to work -- information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation," Obama said.  He bemoaned the fact that "some of the craziest claims can quickly claim traction," in the clamor of certain blogs and talk radio outlets.

New scale of disaster looms in Gulf...

Admiral Thad Allen, head of the US Coast Guard, suggested they were considering what he called a "junk shot" to plug the main leak.  "They're actually going to take a bunch of debris, shredded up tires, golf balls and things like that and under very high pressure shoot it into the preventer itself and see if they can clog it up and stop the leak," Allen, who is leading the US government's response, told CBS's "Face the Nation."  This could be risky as experts have warned that excessive tinkering with the blowout preventer -- a huge 450-ton valve system that should have shut off the oil -- could see crude shoot out unchecked at 12 times the current rate.

Moodys: U.S. Debt Shock May Hit In 2018, Maybe As Soon As 2013

"While we see limited risk of a U.S. sovereign debt downgrade in the next 2-3 years, beyond that we cannot be so certain," wrote Societe Generale's economics team in a recent report.  The Moody's ratings framework is one that could have a significant influence on policy — particularly in a crisis.

There is a time to worry...

Farrakhan’s Obama Revelation: ‘Before He Was Elected He Was Selected’

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Georgia Seniors Told They Can't Pray Before Meals

"Like one lady said, 'You can stop me from speaking, but you can't stop me from praying what's in my heart,"' he said. "But the best answer right now is that we're trying to get the best information possible and legal council is looking at what would happen if we continued to pray.  "Blackwelder said the center's already fragile visitors have been rattled.  "This is, in my view, an unnecessary intrusion into the private lives of individuals. It's a bad place to draw a line in the sand.